Field of Invention
The invention relates to adjustable hot tray lifters; it relates, more particularly, to hot tray lifters with a pair of parallel tines, of which one may be rotated about a bearing in the insulated handle of the lifter, thereby adjusting the lateral spacing between the tongs.
The requirement for hot tray lifters arises from the need of handling trays containing heated substances, principally food items, in which the manual contact with the tray proper is made difficult due to its elevated temperature. Hot tray lifters of the prior art, such as U.S. patents to Demetreon, U.S. Pat. No. 227,029, Brix, U.S. Pat. No. 1,505,319, Ray, U.S. Pat. No. 872,683, Lee, U.S. Pat. No. 1,238,531, and Hagen, U.S. Pat. No. 1,505,258, are representative. were highly concerned with the handling of pie pans and other rigid baking dishes. More recently, a new field has been opened by the appearance and wide-spread distribution of heating containers for frozen food products, generally made from stamped aluminum foil.
Such foil containers are excellent for storage and, due to their high heat transfer capacity, permit the uniform and rapid heating of the foods contained therein, but are structurally weak. In general, such containers cannot support the weight of the foods placed on them in a cantilevered manner, with respect to their support points. This poses no difficulty as long as the container rests on a heating surface, such as a baking grille providing a substantially uniform support, or on a serving tray; however, the transition from the preparing station to the serving station does present substantial problems. Generally such containers are handled by insulated gloves, which makes difficult the uniform support, especially if the container is of any substantial size, as may be the case with `TV Dinners` and other food preparations.
It is, therefore, a primary object of the invention to provide hot tray lifters which are capable of supporting the peripheral flanges of hot trays in a uniform manner.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide such hot tray lifters with lifting tines readily adjusted to hot trays of different sizes and configurations.
It is a further object of the invention to provide hot tray lifting and handling devices which permit the manipulation of such items by the unprotected hand, through the provision of an insulated handle in which the aforementioned tines are supported.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide hot tray lifting devices which are easily stored, readily adjusted to accommodate a given tray size, easily cleaned and sterilized for use in food service, by unskilled personnel with the materials and facilities available in the average kitchen.
It is a further object of the invention to teach the construction of such hot tray lifting devices in a manner compatible with economic manufacture and distribution.